Good rain, better pasture, many lambs. Two years after switching from cattle to sheep farming, farmer Ernst Sauber can deliver a positive summary. Nevertheless, after careful consideration he has decided not to expand this business sector. There are several reasons for this…
“We had satisfactory, i.e. average, rainfall in the past rainy season, in the form of gentle steady rain,” says Sauber. Rainy season in Namibia only means that the probability of rain is higher than during the dry months of June to September. The annual average at BüllsPort at the foot of the Naukluft Mountains is about 220 mm. “The crucial factor was the favourable timing of the rains, which resulted in a longer growing season. As a result, we have good grass coverage of the soil.”
BüllsPort also thinks of the game
Still, the carrying capacity of the farm area and nature reserve is limited. “After all, we have to think about the game,” explains the experienced farmer. “The game population is now likely to increase again, also due to immigration. That’s why we transport the young sheep to our partner farm Remhoogte, as we did last year.” The farm is located about 70 km away at the Remhoogte Pass.
But that is not the only reason not to increase the size of the sheep farm. “Small livestock involve higher costs and time investment than large livestock,” says Ernst Sauber, pointing to a detailed Excel spreadsheet: “We are only now, after two years, ready to start improving the quality of the animals by selecting for age, fertility, weight gain and other criteria.”
Since June, BüllsPort has been concentrating more on hosting guests again. This is because Namibia, like many countries around the world, is relaxing its travel restrictions. This means that more guests will come again, which will ensure higher and regular income. Income that can also be used for nature conservation – which in turn makes the nature reserve more attractive for guests.
BüllsPort’s guests can learn more about farm management and nature conservation on an exciting farm drive (see Experiences). For more on the conversion from cattle to sheep farming, see our report “Lambs instead of calves”.
Newsletter "Naukluft Mail"
Straight from the NAUkLuFT to your mailbox: News, information and exciting stories about the guest business and farm operations of BüllsPort, as well as the mountains of the NAUkLuFT. Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter "Naukluft Mail".
If you want to see what's going on at BüllsPort every now and then: